Third Class: Free Special Education Apps Webinar/ Group Presentation

For the purpose of this course I was assigned to a group of three colleagues and asked to view a Webinar related to Free Special Education Apps. This webinar was insightful and provided a variety of free Special Education Apps. Throughout the Webinar several apps were highlighted to support Universal Design for Learning. These apps enhance learning accessibility for individuals with physical disabilities, written output difficulties, sensory processing disabilities, self regulation limitations, anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, verbal comprehension difficulties, visual impairments, and individuals on the Autism Spectrum. Next class we will be presenting the knowledge provided in the Webinar to our colleagues via Blackboard Collaborate. I look forward to this presentation because I am blessed to work with such an organized, dedicated, and insightful group. I am also eager to listen to other groups presentations and I hope to learn a variety of knowledge and tools I can add to my educational tool kit.

While preparing for this presentation I was searching Free Special Educational apps to gain further insight on the topic. I came across an App called, i.AM Search. Below is a brief description about the app:

Using the i.AM search app, you can create a customized profile related to a specific individual. Some of the questions about the individual include: age, grade, gender, symptom domain, lifestyle domain, independence level and skills that may be supported or developed. Once the profile on the individual is created, a search option is provided, once you click search, a list of several apps will be formulated. These apps are tailored to individuals specific profile. 

What an exciting app! I am defiantly going to use this app and create an individual profile for each of the nine students in my Special Education classroom. It will be nice to be provided with resources and tools specific to an individual student. When researching strategies and tools for students with Attachment Disorders or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder for example, a variety of strategies appear. However, are these strategies specific to "John Doe"? No, the tools provided are often general to the disorder. I like how this app provides tools necessary to support the specific needs of the specific student. This is a great Universal Design for Learning app and I look forward to utilizing in my classroom.